Hello, Monarch fans and welcome to the Hudson homers podcast. We are coming to you today with a special episode as ODU has won in their single elimination game against South Alabama and then pulled the upset over top seeded Louisiana. I'm Gary joined, as always, by my partner in crime, CB CB. I know you and I were texting a good bit yesterday during the game and pretty excited. But how are you feeling this morning with the opportunity ahead of us
Man, it's pretty fantastic. You could not have asked for a better start to a tournament for a team coming in that had to win or literally leave the state. Uh, you know, you come in, single elimination, which is rough. We had that last year. Last year they came in, they lost that one game in a pretty close game. And that's that's your week, uh, and that's got to be a terrible feeling so The way things are going right now, man. It's it's feeling pretty good
We have taken over the path of the one seed and we've got an opportunity today when we play Georgia Southern at 830 Eastern to get tomorrow off, which is huge for a team. It's already had to play an extra game compared to pretty much the rest of the double elimination field. They've played their way into a situation where. They went today and they likely become the favorites to win this tournament.
And it's something we talked about, but we didn't necessarily think it was possible, but now the opportunity kind of lies in front of us here.
Yeah, I mean it's huge and I you know, I still wouldn't want to discount. Uh, whoever comes out of the other side You know troy or southern miss, uh, but you definitely Odu has put themselves in an amazing spot When you've got a situation where you could if you win this game tonight You have not only have the day off on friday But then you go into Saturday and a team has to beat you twice for you not to make the championship.
And I know we saw all season throughout the Sun Belt, you know, beating the same team twice on the same day is not easy. So really, they put themselves in an amazing situation. If they can go out there and get this win tonight against a team they beat two out of three in the regular season. Man that they have put themselves in a great spot.
Absolutely in a great spot, but the pathway to get there was interesting. And I think what I've been most proud of and most excited about is the number of guys that are stepping up in the most critical of moments. And a lot of those guys are seniors. We opened the tournament. Vincent Bashara gets the start.
He has his third great outing in a row and then he's immediately backed up by Jacob Gomez, who has really been nails all season long and Gomez comes in and it would allow one, I think one inherited runner to score, but locked him down the rest of the way. Uh, so just. Two seniors stepping up in huge moments.
I love the move by Finney to have his seniors anchor that pitching staff in that single elimination game, rely on that experience, come away with a three, two win over a pretty good South Alabama
Yeah, the pitching plan could not have worked more perfectly on tuesday night Uh, you know vincent four and a third innings to earn runs Like I said, one of them was gomez gave it up, uh five strikeouts and then jacob gomez four and two thirds Only three hits six strikeouts.
So combined 11 strikeouts in one walk for the two pitchers And that's the biggest thing is when you're getting in there in this tournament You're gonna have to play one more game than anybody else if you keep going having only two guys be able to throw uh was huge and you you definitely saw the The senior experience. Those are two guys, you know, remember when they were freshmen, they were pitching in the, uh, the, uh, CUSA tournament that the older man won.
And it was probably all these best season ever. Uh, and you really saw that veteran leadership show up and it was exactly what they needed.
saw it on the offensive side of the ball, and even though he's not a senior, Maverick Stallings remained hot in that first game, hitting a two run home run, that got us most of the way there, because we didn't have a whole lot of offense, we only had, I think, four hits for that game, but Maverick Stallings stays hot, he hit his sixth home run in his last five games, continued to lead, uh, the Monarchs in home runs, and, you know, the Monarchs in home runs, and, More than half of those have come
just within the last week, week and a half. Uh, but then Jake Tyser had the RBI single that put us ahead. I mean, it ended up being the game winner. We won that thing three to two. And then Kenny LaVarie goes two for four at the dish. He was hot, he was getting on base. So you just, again, you know, Kenny Tyser, Stallings stepping up in a big, big way to have us eke out a three, two win because. South Alabama pitched really, really well in that game.
Zach Willingham, their starter only gave up two runs. Danny Diaz gave up the other one. It was actually an unearned run. Uh, but I mean, they, they pitched well, they threw their top arms against us in that single elimination game. Uh, but we just were a little bit better with pitching and we hit just enough to win that ball
Yeah, that was uh, exactly what you've been wanting. The ODU offense all year, you know, when your pitching staff goes out, only gives up two runs. It's like, we have to score some runs and win this game. And it's a thing they, unfortunately, have not done enough. And so, to get exactly what we needed, Maverick hit that big two run homer that tied the game. Uh, continued being, uh, uh, uh.
Uh, and then Jake Tyser coming up big with just a single again, we don't need Jake Tyser to hit the ball over the wall every time he is the guy that he can hit the ball so hard just on any swing that it just got past the infield exactly where we needed it to be and scored the run. And then, of course, as you pointed out, the only other 2 hits for Kenny LaVarie,, a senior coming up.
Uh big time in a big situation and again congratulations came of ari this game was his 227th at old dominion which set the uh all time record for games played by an odu baseball player and I would I would believe an odu athlete
We've put that stat out there that no one's played more games in an ODU uniform than Kenny LaVarie. And we haven't had any pushback from any teams. Uh, any communication staff, anything like that. And I personally can't think of anyone else who would have played in more games.
So we're going to continue to give him that crown until someone tells us differently, but amazing accomplishment by Kenny LaVarie and just fitting that he comes through so clutch in elimination game to continue getting some games, uh, onto that record and adding a few more, maybe solidifying it so that no one else can touch it. Uh, we were great on the base pass on, uh, this opening game as well. We ended up with four steals, uh, Kyle Edwards.
He only reached base once he walked, but he stole two bags. Luke Waters also didn't have a hit, but he drew a walk and he was able to steal a bag. And then Stephen Meyer, I think he only officially had one at bat because he was hit by a pitch and he walked and he stole a base. So even though we only had four hits, we were doing a lot with the runners. We did get on base of applying pressure, getting in position to score. Uh, and it paid off for us.
I mean, the only must win games, in my opinion, are the ones that if you lose your season's over, that was a must win, and once again, we saw this team step up and do what they needed to do to win it, but, uh, the pitching performance from Bash and from Jacob Gomez, that's going to stick in my mind from this game, because they were just electric for us to close that one
Yeah, I mean those guys have been uh, the heartbeat of the team all season Uh, Jacob Gomez, especially, I mean, what he brings you, uh, in relief on the mound is, is just absolutely necessary for a team. And so, yeah, those guys stepping up in the biggest situation, like I said, the only must win you've had all year. Uh, and we don't even, the game tonight, it's not even a must win. I mean, you, it's a want to win. It's a, and it might be, you really would, would prefer to win.
Uh, but as you said, the only must win was that Tuesday night game and your biggest players came up in the biggest spots and that was excellent to see. And yes, Stephen Meyer must just be a big, uh, bloody pulp right now. He's got 24 hit by pitches on the season, and it seems like he's had 12 of those in the last two weeks. Uh, he's been getting hit a ton. And 27 steals for him also.
That, I don't, again, I don't really know where that ranks as far as historically, but I know that's the most anyone's had in at least the last 20 years at ODU. It might have been, he might have the most since Kevin Gibbs was here in the mid 90s stealing 40 bags a season.
It's pretty crazy to think that he's racked up that many, uh, considering that, you know, his batting average is not super impressive. His on base percentage is. Uh, and definitely when he gets on base in those situations, he is doing everything he can to take a bag. Uh, you were dead on with your assessment about the scouting report on Meyer too, because we saw it against South Alabama. We saw it against Louisiana. They're throwing him inside. Down and in, down and in, down and in.
And that's why he keeps getting hit on that elbow, or the thigh, or the knee. Uh, I hope they have some access to, some ice baths because we had a couple of guys get beat up, uh, over the last couple of games, Stephen Myers, one of them, Evan Holman, and then of course, Alex Boucher was back in the lineup for that first game wearing like a clear visor face mask while he's batting. I can only imagine how difficult that is to try to pick up spin looking through a visor, but.
Tough guy back in the lineup after getting smashed up. I mean, you can see like both of his eyes are black, nose is in head shape, but he's out there, he's in the lineup and he's doing everything he can
Yeah, they did say on the broadcast the second game that his nose is broken. Um, and you you can see I think you're right that first game back between the visor and then just having a few days off He did not look good at the plate. Um, and then the second game he looked really good I don't i'm trying to check the box store right now. I'm, not even sure he had a hit In the second game, but he just was making good swings and having good contact.
So that's a good sign Uh, because boucher is the guy, you know, he's having a little bit of a down year compared to his freshman year So it'd be it'd be great to finish it off strong here, especially after coming back from the broken nose
Well, speaking of the next game, we go and take on the top seed of Raging Cajuns who they're, they're a really good ball team. It takes a lot to win our conference this year and they did it pretty handedly. Uh, they kicked our ass when we went down to Lafayette earlier this year and swept us, only scored one run over three games. But things were a little bit different, in this game.
ODU right from the jump, Kenny LaVarie, another senior stepping up, smacks a solo home run, which tied our offensive output for three games down in Lafayette, did it in one inning. And that really set the tone for ODU in this one, gave them some confidence that they can knock off this one seed and we really saw it pay off there in the fourth inning.
Yeah, I mean this team, uh just went in and they put in some work. I mean this was uh As you said, we, we, they absolutely killed us when we played them. And again, that was months ago. So things change, but this team was good. They swept the season awards, uh, and our guys came out and, and as well, as good as the hitting did that, we'll, we'll talk about it in a minute. You have to talk about the pitching. I mean, again, everything, everything with ODU starts with the pitching.
Blake Morgan coming out, three scoreless innings to start the game, three strikeouts, looked great. Um, probably could have pitched more. He was in the fourth when they took him out. Um, but you know, at a certain point, it becomes, hey, Blake, you know, we'll let you pass the baton. You've only thrown 45 pitches. It means you can come back for us in a day or two. Um, if we need you on Friday, definitely need you on Saturday. Uh, Ben Moore came in. He was outstanding.
Ben Moore has been a fantastic pitcher for Old Dominion this whole time here. Uh, four scoreless innings. Only one walk, five strikeouts, uh, just looked amazing. And then John Holabatz, uh, surprisingly, honestly, uh, came in to close the game, had a little bit of trouble in the, in the eighth inning. Uh, but you know, you had a big lead, so the lead got cut down from seven, nothing to seven, three, and then he closed it out, looked phenomenal in ninth inning.
Um, didn't, I really didn't understand bringing Holabatz in, in that kit in that time, but sometimes I got to sit back and say, you know what, I don't know everything they know. They mentioned on the broadcast, chris finwood, uh has over 600 collegiate wins Almost 400 odu I have zero. So sometimes you gotta step back and say, they know what they're doing And I don't know everything they know.
don't know an exact reason why John Holowitz came in with a seven, nothing lead. Uh, I, I think there's a couple of theories you could go with like one. If you want to really be successful in this tournament, you have to win this game. Like if we click over to the loser's bracket, uh, it is an even harder and longer road than we already have in front of us. So bringing in your ACE to make sure we close out those two and get the win.
Uh, I think Bo Cowan pointed out that hollow beds actually got hot the day before in the bullpen, but didn't come into pitch. They had gotten him up again yesterday, and maybe you get them up twice. You got to use them because he's not gonna be able to pitch the next day. Anyway, uh, those are the only things that, that I can really think of, you know, would love to save that arm and see if he could give you a six, seven innings, uh, against Georgia Southern.
But. Like you said, that coaching staff knows a lot more about baseball than we do and how the guys are feeling and what the plan is, what things look like he did only throw 32 pitches. So if he doesn't throw against Georgia Southern and we win that game and we get a day off, he was probably fully available to you. The rest of the tournament would probably even give you a couple innings against Georgia Southern today.
I think in my mind, I'm thinking, Oh, man, if we roll out against Georgia Southern, Jay Cassaday for two or three innings, the Holovets close it, we can seal this thing. But that's, uh, I think wishful thinking in a tournament game against another good opponent. Uh, you're talking about Blake. Uh, he pitched well, only gave up four hits over the three innings.
I think the only reason that he ended up coming out of that game early is because he had to sit so long through that six run fourth inning. Uh, and he may have just cooled off too much, but hey, Ben Moore, no runs, no hits, five strikeouts over four innings. I will take that in the tournament all the time.
Yeah, uh, and as you say, so getting back to the offense, uh, you pointed out You know, kenny lavare The big home run in the first inning had himself another two hit game. So he's got four hits already through two games Uh, but then everything broke loose in the fourth inning, uh, Kyle Edwards let us off with a double Uh, Kenny had that second hit where he singled Which actually scored Kyle on a single. Uh, that was, uh, he just hit it in the exact right spot.
Uh, there was a little bit of goofing around out in the outfield and, and Kyle just kept running the whole time. We were extremely aggressive on the base paths in both these games. So that second run came through. Um, and then again, Luke Waters followed that up with another double, uh, which scored Kenny, Tyser walks, Boucher walks. So we got the bases loaded. Stephen Meyer had a perfectly placed ground out to, uh, actually the second baseman. I thought it was the first baseman originally.
Uh, he just kind of hit like a high chopper. It was the exact best spot you could hit it. Luke Waters scored. So we still have second and third with only, um, Only one out. Evan Holman hits a beautifully placed double down the line, uh, the, the, the choking up on the bat is working. Evan is just looking now. I, I, my dad said it, we were watching the game, I think earlier, uh, but I, he had made a great point. He said, I think Evan is just better with guys on base.
Uh, the amount of hits that Evan gets with guys on base, he's, uh, his batting average of guys on base has to be way higher than his batting average of bases empty. Maverick Stallings, weird play, catcher's interference, the catcher's glove kind of got stuck out there, and then T. J. Aitken, um, hit a single to score that seventh run to score Evan. Uh, so just everyone in the whole lineup producing in that, uh, fourth inning, uh, just fantastic.
Everything you want to see out of the lineup, what we've been hoping to see all season. This inning was exactly what As you watch this team all year and you see him, you know, intimately you just think like, this is who these guys could be every single game all the time. Um, so that was, it was fantastic to see. Yeah.
bats in that inning, working counts, drawing walks.
Uh, if they give you something great first pitch swinging at it, Just a really complete look at what this offense has tried to be all year six runs five hits one error None of those were home runs So they were able to have a big inning without needing to rely on the long ball And you said you're exactly right This is what this offense has supposed to look like all year and they kind of brought it together there for that that one inning just kept piling on too.
Louisiana, they started, uh, the conference freshmen of the year, chase Morgan. He's been great all season long. Uh, they put up five earned runs on him in three innings, ran him from the game. Uh, the third pitcher that Louisiana brought in, I believe Blake Marshall. Uh, he threw more innings in that game than he had all season long.
So Louisiana almost went into, let's conserve some arms, uh, cause we're going to have a tough road now down, down this big, uh, but to their credit, those arms that came out of the pen shut ODU out the rest of the way. We weren't really able to get a whole lot going, uh, but just a great performance. Evan Holman is another one we talk about, gets beat up all the time, takes a beating behind the plate. Uh, he had the ground rule double, he also hit a triple later in the game.
And of course, the relay throw coming in drills him right to the ribs as he's going into third. He was fine, he stayed in the game because he's an incredibly tough dude, but Man, we, we got some, some tough guys on this team and you just saw it play out again and again as they've gone through the tournament.
You gotta love Evan. You do wonder if the, uh, 2024 Sunbelt head coach of the year may have, uh, outcoached himself in this game, throwing Chase Morgan, who is, freshman of the year, outstanding. Thank you. But in game one, they didn't throw, uh, their, uh, I can't remember his name on top, but I know he carved this up when he faced us. The, the sunbelt pitcher of the year didn't throw in game one.
Uh, so you think that was a little bit of maybe looking ahead saying, well, we can throw our second guy and beat ODU. Um, and that turned out not to be true. So sometimes you, I think you overmanage yourself.
Yeah, L. P. Langevin, uh, was the Sunbelt Pitcher of the Year. Uh, had a, uh, an amazing
was disgusting against ODU.
was, he was ridiculous. Uh, I mean, it, it's, you just can go through his stats and see well deserved All Conference honors. It was definitely a decision to not throw your ace in the first game, and maybe because it's a 1 8 matchup. Um, I haven't gone through all their box scores to see if, you know, maybe he's been the Saturday guy and not the Friday guy. They want to stay with that rotation. I don't know.
Uh, but it cost them their one seed because now they're playing out of the loser's bracket. They have a lot longer road ahead. Uh, but Hey, if, if they feel like they could have gotten past us without their ace, and maybe they did because of how poorly we played in Lafayette earlier this year, but tournament time is different. You got to throw a lot of those plans out the window and you got to throw your best arms to ensure you're in the best position for the next day.
Uh, I feel like old dominion did that. I feel like we have so many arms left in the tank because we've only used five pitchers and we have an opportunity today. If we win. We get Friday off, we get to reset those arms. And we haven't even seen Kellen Davis come trotting out of the pen yet, but I imagine we'll see him today.
Yeah, there's a lot of good arms. We haven't seen, you know, Dylan Brown, I would have to imagine is going to start tonight. Um, but also Jay Cassidy's there. Trent Buchanan, Brandon Pond, as you said, Kellen Davis. I mean, there, there are guys who have thrown some big time innings for this team who have not appeared yet in this tournament. And, you know, you got to feel really good if you're ODU. I mean, just.
The reality of not having a starter all year, not having that guy that's going to come out and pitch you five to seven innings, uh, it feels weird and you feel like you're kind of piecing it through the whole season, but what happens when you get to tournament time, those guys are those starters that are throwing you seven innings during the season, they're throwing you more like four or five and you're all of a sudden you saw the Louisiana guy only throwing an inning and a third all season
comes in the game. Well, ODU doesn't really have those guys. Pretty much everybody on ODU's team that's there and available to pitch has pitched, you know, ten or more innings. Um, so we've got guys, we've got a lot of guys in that, you know, 25 to 40 inning range. And so we're going to see some guys throw that for other teams, this would be like, you know, the 10th guy on the roster who barely pitches for us.
It's like, well, yeah, that, that guy comes in all the time, If Stephen Trone comes in the game, I'm not like, Oh man, this guy never pitched, he stinks. It's like, no, I'm like, Stephen Trone is good to go. Like, I believe in that guy.
And you and I have said it really all season. If this team can figure out a way to hit, they have more arms than everyone else and their arms are built for these tournament situations because. You can throw one or two innings, two, three days in a row, and you've got the arms to continually do that. So it'll be interesting to see how the pitching plan rolls out today. Uh, we don't know who is starting. I think Dylan Brown is a great bet. Uh, he has been resurrected since I think that VCU game.
A couple of weeks ago, he's had some great performances for us, uh, but we got so much behind him too. I mean, if, if he can give you a three or four, you can probably throw a pitcher every ending the rest of the way, uh, and, and be able to come out unscathed and have everybody back. Uh, but again, I think it comes down to hitting, being able to put some runs up on the board. Uh, Georgia Southern. I absolutely did that yesterday. They wrecked JMU, uh, 12 to four.
They added five more there in the ninth inning to really pull away and throw JMU over to the losers bracket. The only thing that maybe kind of gives me some pause and some concern is that we had that big outburst for six runs in the fourth. And then we weren't able to put up any more runs and kind of put that thing away later. We got some guys on base, but never got that additional hit to bring him in. So hoping that is just maybe got complacent.
Louisiana's pitching was, was in good shape, uh, but we're definitely going to need to rely on runs over multiple innings and not just one big inning, uh, against Georgia Southern because they're, they're good ball clubs, surprise, surprise.
I'm with you. It always gets me a little nervous when you score a ton of runs in one inning, and then don't do much the rest of the game. Uh, but at the same time, that feels very picky after a whole season. Where we've said, you know, boy, I wish they would score. So it, you can't, we really, I feel like I can't have it both ways. I gotta be excited when they do score.
Uh, but yeah, I mean, just, just like you said, they, they had so many good at bats throughout the game, um, even though they didn't quite get things going in other innings, there were lots of really good at bats, lots of good hits. Um, and you, you really feel good about where they are going into this game. We destroyed Georgia Southern when they came to ODU back in March. Uh, but again, that was back in March. That was a long time ago.
Um, and even that series, you know, we, we beat them two games in a row by run rule, and then they beat us two to one on a Sunday when we couldn't hit. Uh, so that I remember that being extremely frustrating but that was also that was march Yeah, that was three months ago, uh, two months ago who it feels like 100 years ago Uh, but you know things are very different. You you really can't take much away from that I'm sure we have a very different lineup and pitching rotation.
They have a very different line of pitching rotation Nobody's got the same thing in may they had in march
A lot has changed for sure. Uh, since, two months ago in March, we saw that very clearly with how well we played against Louisiana when two months ago, they just absolutely destroyed us in Lafayette. It's a whole brand new, brand new game, brand new teams. I'm sure Georgia Southern is pretty pumped up. They had the late game yesterday and they won it 12 to four. They controlled that thing the whole way through. They were up six, nothing through to, uh, kind of expose JMU.
I think a little bit, I I'm excited about the fact that we've got guys up and down the lineup contributing, and it seems like it's maybe somebody different each game. Uh, you know, Maverick Stallings did not hit a home run against Louisiana for the first time in five games.
What a bum
So finally that, that streak has come to an end, but you know, that, I think that just means he's due for about two more home runs, uh, later this evening against Georgia Southern, and
a bum you better better bench that guy. He's he's no good Um, yeah Boo Which, which, uh, speaking of boo, that's, that's one of my favorite things now that I understand the context. When they get a single, you might see the guys putting the thumbs down. Uh, and that's, that's the boo. We don't want singles. Uh, the singles are boo. So every time you, uh, you see a, a node, you hit or get a single, and they're on first base, they're giving the thumbs down to the dugout.
That's why, because, uh, boo singles. So that's a, that's a fun thing once you understand what they're doing. Uh, but yeah, this game tonight, it's going to be exciting. You know, ODU has really put themselves in a position that I think very few people really would have expected. Uh, but you, you got a chance to go out and win a game against a team that you had beat before and you stack up well against and put yourself in an amazing spot, uh, going forward in the tournament.
there's definitely some other action within the Sunbelt tournament today. And this is going to sound kind of crazy when I talk about it. So, uh, opening the games today, uh, coastal Carolina and app state are playing an elimination game. So either coastal or app will be out probably by the time this episode hits. Uh, whatever podcasting platform you listen through, and that's going to be followed by JMU against Louisiana and another elimination game.
So, two of those four teams are going to be gone before we even take the field today. Uh, prior to our game at 5 o'clock Eastern, uh, three seed Troy is taking on two seed Southern Miss. That's the other winner's bracket game. And then, uh, we are currently scheduled for eight 30. I would be shocked if we actually start that game at eight 30. Uh, everything looks good on the weather, but I think so far. None of the second games have actually started on time so far in this tournament.
So, uh, expect a long night, get yourself some coffee, some other beverages, whatever you got to do, uh, however you consumed the game against Louisiana. I recommend, uh, taking that same approach because it's only weird if it doesn't work. I had, uh, For a little while, I had the radio feed with Eric Bohannon synced to ESPN plus and was going that route. Uh, but I had some food out on the smoker, so I ended up with AirPods listening to Eric and then the game on TV.
So I may have to go out and buy another rack of baby back ribs just to recreate the exact environment that I watched the game yesterday.
I will be on my parents couch watching with them again. So I guess I will have some similar, maybe a mom bring us more of that pasta we had last night, I guess. You mentioned the timing. Um, it hasn't been that bad, honestly, because yesterday was the fourth game that ODU played, uh, and it didn't start until nine when it should have been 830. That's not too bad. Realistically, I mean, I think the clock is having a big effect.
These games aren't lasting forever, uh, because there were other years. I remember one year, I think in the Sunbelt tournament, ODU had the last game and because of between weather and long games, it didn't start until like one in the morning. Uh, so things could be a lot worse.
Absolutely, and it is pretty warm down there. I'm sure those of you that are there don't need me to tell you that it's, it's hot and muggy. Uh, but there are definitely some advantages of playing not in the sun today, late in the day. Uh, it takes a little less wear and tear on your body, a little less sweating through your uniforms. Uh, so that that's another advantage of taking this one seed path is you kind of get everything that's favorable.
Uh, if we win tonight against Georgia Southern, uh, we will not play again until Saturday at, uh, 1. 30 p. m. Eastern. Uh, if we do lose it, Uh, tonight we will bounce back on Friday at 7 30 eastern time in that game 12 on the Sunbelt bracket. So, um, even a loss is not the worst. You don't have to turn around like play first thing in the morning, but the opportunity is there. I mean, if you can find a way to beat Georgia Southern, like they found a way to beat South Alabama and Louisiana.
They are going to be set up for some pretty amazing things on Saturday, having a day off to rest some arms, get the guys off their feet, let them unwind a little bit, and then be back at it because you go to and O through the double elimination round. You're in the driver's seat moving forward, and it's gonna be a lot of fun to watch that unfold tonight.
Yeah, this is a great chance for these guys to show how good they are, how good they believe they are all year, how good we believe they are all year, uh, to go out and hit like we know they're capable of, have our pitching continue to be exactly who they've been all year. It's extremely exciting. So this, this is, uh, we, we just got to sit back and, uh, be grateful for the first two games and how well they've done.
And hopefully it continues for another, uh, what, about three games, just, uh, bop, bop, bop right through it. And then, uh, all of a sudden find yourself making some plans for June.
Yeah, still a very long way to go to get there, but they've done some pretty impressive things in these first two games, and they've given themselves this opportunity. Uh, Coach Fenwood said after that final game against App State, it's like, I don't know what all we have and if we have the most talent, but I know that we can fight and this team has absolutely done that through the tournament, getting the last two wins they needed at Georgia State. Like, it looks like a different team out there.
Uh, in, in just about every aspect. And we've said before, why not us? Why not steal a bid from somebody else in the Sunbelt? Maybe, maybe JMU.
You know, sometimes you put stuff through a meat grinder and you just get a bunch of stuff. And sometimes you put stuff through a meat grinder and you get a beautiful hamburger. Uh, so I think we might be that beautiful hamburger.
We will hope so. Well, we will definitely be tuned in and watching it. Uh, there's a recap from last night's game at odumonarchist. com. Go check that out while you're there, click over to our store. We still obviously have all of the baseball, shirts that are up there. The Bud Bombers, the Absolute Nukes, the Luke Newcomb shirt. Uh, with the proceeds actually go to Luke. And then there's a new shirt that is up there as well.
If you're an ODU basketball fan for coach Mike Jones and Odell Hodge, stay tuned, to everything from ODU baseball, ODU Monarchist account, we will keep you informed. I'm Gary go
And I'm CB go Monarchs.